Creme Brulee, Baby!

One of my favorite childhood memories is when my dad would light a fire in our fireplace which was located in what we called "the back porch". Our back porch was what some would call a 3-season room but it was more like a 2-season room since we lived in northern New Jersey. Originally it was a back patio surrounded by a 4-foot-high fieldstone wall to match the rest of the house. Somewhere along the line one of the owners added windows all around, a roof and a floor. By the time we lived there we raised the floor (but did not insulate) and closed off a little laundry room by the back door. The best feature of the room was the franklin stove-style fireplace. We rarely used the room in the cold weather (and it was NOT fun to run through this room to get to the laundry...cold tile floor!) but once in awhile, and on Thanksgiving and Christmas, dad would light a fire and it was transformed into the coziest room in the house. Then....when the fire died down, sometimes my mom would get the marshmallows out and let us roast them over the hot coals. This was a special treat because how often do we do this in the winter?? We usually did this over the grill in the summer (another great memory!)

Is there anything better than a roasted marshmallow? I submit that it is tough to beat!

Fast forward a few years (how many is no matter!) and I'm at a restaurant and someone orders Creme Brulee. I have my first bite and am smitten. The crunchy crust tastes EXACTLY like roasted marshmallow. But wait...underneath is a velvety, creamy custard that is not like any pudding I have ever had. Divine.

Fast forward to my restaurant days when I didn't make the Creme Brulee but got to torch the sugar on top for dessert service. FUN! And so tasty!

Finally. This past week I decided I needed to make this dessert from scratch. It is surprisingly easy even if it seems to need a lot of special treatment.

So this recipe comes from one of my favorite sources: Good old America's Test Kitchen.

Recipe Source: America's Test Kitchen

 

If you have eggs, sugar, vanilla bean (or paste) and heavy cream you can make Creme Brulee (assuming you have a torch...which I highly recommend: uber fun!) First you bring heavy cream, sugar and the seeds from one vanilla bean to a boil (in this case I used vanilla paste). Once it boils, turn the heat off and let it steep, like tea, for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, separate a bunch (in this case 6) of eggs. You'll use the yolks in this recipe. Save the whites for an omelette or something. The whites will keep in the fridge for about 2 days. Or you can freeze them (for real).

Once the heavy cream/vanilla mixture has set for 15 minutes you add more heavy cream and then mix it in with the yolks. There is a bit of a process here because you are trying, above all, not to cook the egg yolks. Otherwise you'll have scrambled egg custard. Gross!

Then you pour it through a fine mesh strainer to get any lumps or bigger particles out and then in equal amounts into some Creme Brulee-appropriate dishes.

 

Here are the dished in my roasting pan which is filled with enough boiling water to come up 2/3 of the way of the custard cups. The towel is in there to keep the dishes from sliding all over the place. The water needs to be boiling because otherwise you'll be cooking these forever just to heat the water up.

This method of cooking is called...anyone? Yes. Bain Marie. Or Water Bath. In any case: it works!

 

You know they are done when the middle just barely jiggles. You can also use a thermometer. Removing from the pans is a little cumbersome. I learned a trick (which is actually in the America's Test Kitchen cookbook) to wrap rubber bands around the tong 'hands' so you can grip the dishes. Totally works.

 

Once the dishes are removed they cool at room temp for several hours then in the fridge (tightly covered with saran). When ready simply put turbinado sugar (you can get this in any grocery store) and then torch it baby! 

 

Takes me back to my marshmallow roasting days!